WND EXCLUSIVE

Billboard calls Jesus 'Useless Savior'

Atheists attack faith at nominating conventions

Dave is an experienced writer, speaker, and instructor, with decades of law enforcement experience. His first book will be published later this year and draws on his reporting and police skills. Follow Dave on Twitter @davetombers

A group that pushes the philosophy of “loving yourself and your fellow man rather than a god” is attacking religious believers in a new billboard campaign in the host cities of the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions.

American Atheists announced a billboard campaign against “the foolishness of religion in the political landscape.”

According to the group, the billboards feature assertions of Christianity and Mormonism that they say have no place in politics.

One version of the campaign is scheduled to run in Charlotte, N.C., where the Democratic National Convention will be held Sept. 3-6.

The billboard, as seen on American Atheists’ website, attacks Jesus as a “Useless Savior” next to an image of a piece of toast with a purported image of Jesus burned into it.

It also claims Christians have a “Sadistic God” and that Christianity has more than “30,000+ versions of truth.” Christians, it says, are part of a “Hate Promoting” group that calls “Hate” “Love.”

The other version of the campaign has fallen short already, as no billboard company in Tampa, Fla., the site of the Republican convention, will accept it.

The billboard features a man in glowing underwear, an apparent reference to special undergarments worn by Mormon faithful.

In a statement, David Silverman, president of American Atheists, said, “The election of our leaders in the United States is one of the most important decisions that we as citizens make. Allowing our judgment to be clouded by sheer silliness is unacceptable. We want to show the people of our country the foolishness of mixing religion with politics.”

American Atheists often sets out to generate interest in its cause through billboards and even aerial banners. However, as WND has reported, the campaigns are often fraught with difficulties.

Last year, American Atheists claimed: “The reality is that there is still a lot of bigotry out there and many companies refused to fly our banners. This just emphasizes the importance of doing this campaign!”

In a statement surrounding the toned-down campaign, Silverman said: “In 2011, American Atheists attempted to fly a banner in all fifty states on July 4th, but ran into discrimination from companies that refused to fly the banner. This year we are concentrating on New York City where the most powerful symbol of American freedom resides: the Statue of Liberty.”